Bioinspired drones of the future

May 25, 2014

Using mechanisms adopted by birds, bats, insects and snakes, 14 research teams have developed ideas for improving drone-flying performance in complex urban environments.

The research teams presented their work May 23 in a special open-access issue of IOP Publishing’s journal Bioinspiration and Biomimeticsdevoted to bio-inspired flight control. Here are a few examples.

An algorithm developed by Hungarian researchers allows multiple drones to fly together like a flock of birds to improve search and rescue operations. In a test, it was able to direct the movements of a flock of nine quadcopters following a moving car.

A millimeter-sized microrobot drone developed by researchers from Harvard University can take off and land and hover in the air for sustained periods of time, with a new development: simple, fly-like manoeuvers. Such drones could be used in assisted agriculture pollination and reconnaissance in the future.

Hawk moths that can handle strong winds and whirlwinds were developed by a research team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of California, and The Johns Hopkins University.

A “jumpglider design” that could reduce the power required to operate drones has been developed by researchers at Université de Sherbrooke and Stanford University. Inspired by vertebrates like the flying squirrel, the flying fish and the flying snake (which use their aerodynamic bodies to extend their jumping range to avoid predators), it combines an aeroplane-shaped body with a spring-based mechanical foot that propels the robot into the air. It could be used to improve search and rescue efforts by being able to navigate around obstacles and over rough terrain.

Flight-control challenges

Flying animals can be found everywhere in our cities, notes special-issue Guest Editor David Lentink, PhD, from Stanford University. “From scavenging pigeons to alcohol-sniffing fruit flies that make precision landings on our wine glasses, these animals have quickly learned how to control their flight through urban environments to exploit our resources. To enable our drones to fly equally well in wind and clutter, we need to solve several flight control challenges during all flight phases: takeoff, cruising, and landing.

“This special issue provides a unique integration between biological studies of animals and bio-inspired engineering solutions. Each of the 14 papers presented in this special issue offers a unique perspective on bio-mimetic flight, providing insights and solutions to the take-off, obstacle avoidance, in-flight grasping, swarming, and landing capabilities that urban drones need to succeed.”

Related:

Comments (4)

It would be nice if they really were used for good, but I would never trust one of those snooping around in a city. What they will actually be used for is more surveillance, spying on people and killing people.

Drones in cities are a terrorism (“terrorism”) threat. How do people trust that actual non-terrorists are flying these things.

Oh right, yeah for pollinating flowers. But what they will actually be used for is surveillance, spying on people and killing people. Drones would be cool and nice if the military-industrial complex wasn’t so creepy and rogue.

Don’t cha just love that bug ‘bot on the flower? That’s the gadgetron that will save humanity!

We just have to hope and pray that they come online and become mass produced in time to start fertilizing the flowers of our crops before the last honeybee dies.

But then, to keep having honey, we will need somebody to clone the cells that the bees use in making it. Then the bug ‘bots will need to culture those cells in their little robot tummies.

Oh yeah! The bug ‘bots will need to make beeswax for us too!

Wait a minute!

If they can build solar-powered bug ‘bot predators that use lasers to zap boll weevils and Dutch elm beetles and emerald ash borers and all the other insects that consume our trees and crops, then farmers can stop using the pesticides that are killing all of the honeybees!